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Irregular warfare

Irregular warfare (IW) is defined in United States joint doctrine as "a violent struggle among state and non-state actors for legitimacy and influence over the relevant populations."[1] In practice, control of institutions and infrastructure is also important. Concepts associated with irregular warfare are older than the term itself.[2]

Irregular warfare favors indirect warfare and asymmetric warfare approaches, though it may employ the full range of military and other capabilities in order to erode the adversary's power, influence, and will. It is inherently a protracted struggle that will test the resolve of a state and its strategic partners.[3][4][5][6][7]


The term "irregular warfare" was settled upon in distinction from "traditional warfare" and "unconventional warfare", and to differentiate it as such; it is unrelated to the distinction between "regular" and "irregular forces".[8]

Terminology[edit]

Early usage[edit]

One of the earliest known uses of the term irregular warfare is in the 1986 English edition of "Modern Irregular Warfare in Defense Policy and as a Military Phenomenon" by former Nazi officer Friedrich August Freiherr von der Heydte. The original 1972 German edition of the book is titled "Der Moderne Kleinkrieg als Wehrpolitisches und Militarisches Phänomen". The German word "Kleinkrieg" is literally translated as "Small War."[9] The word "Irregular," used in the title of the English translation of the book, seems to be a reference to non "regular armed forces" as per the Third Geneva Convention.


Another early use of the term is in a 1996 Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) document by Jeffrey B. White.[10] Major military doctrine developments related to IW were done between 2004 and 2007[11] as a result of the September 11 attacks on the United States.[12][13] A key proponent of IW within US Department of Defense (DoD) is Michael G. Vickers, a former paramilitary officer in the CIA.[14] The CIA's Special Activities Center (SAC) is the premiere American paramilitary clandestine unit for creating and for combating irregular warfare units.[15][16][17] For example, SAC paramilitary officers created and led successful irregular units from the Hmong tribe during the war in Laos in the 1960s,[18] from the Northern Alliance against the Taliban during the war in Afghanistan in 2001,[19] and from the Kurdish Peshmerga against Ansar al-Islam and the forces of Saddam Hussein during the war in Iraq in 2003.[20][21][22]

Afghan Civil War

Algerian War

American Indian Wars

[nb 1][26]

American Revolutionary War

Arab Revolt

Chinese Civil War

Cuban Revolution

First Chechen War

First Sudanese Civil War

Iraq War

Kosovo War

Lebanese Civil War

Portuguese Colonial War

Rwanda Civil War

Second Boer War

Second Chechen War

Second Sudanese Civil War

Somali Civil War

Philippine-American War

The Troubles

Vietnam War

Libyan Civil War (2011)

Syrian Civil War

Iraqi Civil War (2014–2017)

Second Libyan Civil War

Yemeni Civil War (2015–present)

Nearly all modern wars include at least some element of irregular warfare. Since the time of Napoleon, approximately 80% of conflict has been irregular in nature. However, the following conflicts may be considered to have exemplified by irregular warfare:[2][10]

Asymmetric warfare

(CMO)

Civil-military operations

Colonial war

(FID)

Foreign internal defense

(GW)

Guerrilla warfare

/Counter-insurgency (COIN)

Insurgency

activities focused on countering irregular adversaries

Law enforcement

and counter-intelligence activities

Military Intelligence

(SSTRO)

Stabilization, Security, Transition, and Reconstruction Operations

/Counter-terrorism

Terrorism

Transnational

narco-trafficking

(UW)

Unconventional warfare

Activities and types of conflict included in IW are:


According to the DoD, there are five core activities of IW:

Modeling and simulation[edit]

As a result of DoD Directive 3000.07,[5] United States armed forces are studying irregular warfare concepts using modeling and simulation.[27][28][29]

Unified Action

[30]

Unified Quest

[31]

January 2010 Tri-Service Maritime Workshop,

[32]

Joint Irregular Warrior Series war games,

[32]

Expeditionary Warrior war game series, and

[32]

a December 2011 Naval War College Maritime Stability Operations Game focused specifically on stability operations in the maritime domain conducted by the Naval Service.

[32]

There have been several military wargames and military exercises associated with IW, including:

Che Guevara

François Géré

John R. M. Taylor

T. E. Lawrence

Robert Rogers' 28 "Rules of Ranging"

Individuals:

Military Art and Science Major - Irregular Warfare Specialty Track Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine

[11]

Pincus, Walter, "Irregular Warfare, Both Future and Present," , 7 April 2008 [12]

The Washington Post

Phillips, Joan T., Fairchild, Muir S.,"Irregular Warfare", , March 2007 [13] Archived 2017-05-01 at the Wayback Machine

Maxwell Air Force Base

Gustafson, Michael, "Modern Irregular Warfare & Counterinsurgency", Swedish National Defence College, 2009 Archived 2010-08-23 at the Wayback Machine

[14]

Coons, Kenneth C. Jr., Harned, Glenn M., "Irregular Warfare is Warfare", Joint Force Quarterly, , 2009 [15] Archived 2009-01-09 at the Wayback Machine

National Defense University

(NPS) Center on Terrorism and Irregular Warfare (CTIW) [16]

Naval Postgraduate School

(USJFCOM) Joint Irregular Warfare Center (JIWC) [17] Archived 2011-07-25 at the Wayback Machine

United States Joint Forces Command

Armed Groups and Irregular Warfare; Adapting Professional Military Education, , Roy Godson, and Querine Hanlon (Washington, DC: National Strategy Information Center, 2009). [18]

Richard H. Shultz, Jr.

Tomkins, Paul, Fort Bragg, NC: United States Army Special Operations Command, 2011.

Irregular Warfare: Annotated Bibliography.